Metro Index Football Camp
Insights College prospects lose opportunity to impress : By Tricia Lafferty, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, April 18, 2008 Hundreds of local high school football players used Joe Butler's Metro Index camp to grab the attention of Division I coaches each May. But getting noticed at spring camps became a lot more difficult this past January when the NCAA passed a rule which prohibits Division I coaches from attending spring camps. In addition, head coaches are no longer permitted to travel in the spring. Butler said in previous years that about 50 Division I coaches watched 600 prospects work out at his camp, but that won't be the case anymore. "It really hurts the kids," said Gateway coach Terry Smith, who has produced some of the top recruits in the country in recent years. "I understand where the college coaches are coming from. They don't have a life if they are on the road six days a week in the spring chasing high school kids. It hurts a kid that doesn't have a scholarship and is looking for that opportunity." Division II, III and NAIA coaches are still permitted to attend camps such as Metro Index, which is held at Pitt's South Side football facility, and the Nike camp at Penn State. The bylaw on the NCAA Web site states that coaches are limited to visiting high school-sactioned events in the spring, meaning coaches can attend "regular scholastic activities involving prospective student-athletes enrolled only at the institution at which the regular scholastic activities occur." Division I coaches are not permitted to attend a camp, even if it's hosted by its own school. "There's a good and bad to every rule," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "There is no perfect rule. "We thought it was a good rule so the head coach could be back home with the team. A lot of people felt that it was an added thing because you were able to watch a lot more kids at one spot." Bradley said each of Penn State's assistants visited about five camps each spring. The camps became so popular in recent years that 20 private planes from Division I programs would fly in to State College for the annual Nike camp. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt favors the new rule because it gives coaches a bit of a break in their hectic recruiting and coaching schedules. "It's overkill," Wannstedt said. "It's too much. We don't need it." Perhaps the athletes need the camps more than the coaches do. Take former Schenley wide receiver Brandon McLaughlin, for instance, who was an unknown heading into the Metro Index camp as a high school junior. He caught the attention of Maine's coaches, earned a scholarship and started at cornerback this past season as a sophomore at Maine. "I'm not worried about me," said Butler, who has served as a scout for 31 years. "The rule change hurts the kids on the bubble. The big-time players, they'll find out who they are, but it hurts the (lower-profile) kids." Butler, who's been running the Metro Index camp in Pittsburgh for 28 years, said he expects a marginal decrease in participants in this year's camp because of the rule change and the economy. Butler said the camp will still help players get noticed as there will be bird dogs, which are private citizens who will come to the camp and report back to college coaches. Butler said Division I coaches will also use him more as a talent evaluator and for recommendations. "It was a real good opportunity for these young men to get noticed, and they'll still get noticed," Butler said. "It's just not going to be the notice that they used to get." Tricia Lafferty can be reached at tlafferty@tribweb.com or 412-380-5666. Links * Football